From Research to Results

Undergraduate work showcased in latest edition of Inquiry

Monday, April 23, 2018

The latest edition of UNH's research journal, Inquiry, is now available online.

Learn about the impact of bacteria on Great Bay’s oysters. Find out how occupational therapy could help people in Ghana living with sickle cell disease. Evaluate plant growth in edible crops. Delve deep into literature and find out about James Fenimore Cooper’s influence on Leo Tolstoy.

Those are just a few examples of the in-depth articles in this spring’s issue of Inquiry, a journal of undergraduate research from across the University of New Hampshire.

That research can be historical or cutting-edge or, as the saying goes, ripped from the headlines. Alexandria Hidrovo ’18 writes of her research into disinfection options for drinking water: “Flint, Michigan’s water crisis put my major, environmental engineering, in perspective for the first time.” Gina Occhipinti ’18, meanwhile, traveled to the Philippines to conduct research into funding business development services for women microentrepreneurs in that country. “Focusing on development economics of those in poverty in the Philippines gave me a unique perspective,” she writes.

As UNH’s online, multidisciplinary undergraduate research journal, Inquiry is published each April and features articles and commentaries about the research of current UNH students and recent graduates. Each article is based on a project the student undertook with one or more faculty mentors.

This year’s edition includes eight research articles — on topics as varied as the conservation of the lion and whether artificial intelligence can help alleviate resource scarcity — as well as three commentaries. The spring edition also features two mentor highlights: Jo Sias Daniel of the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences and Lou Ann Griswold of the College of Health and Human Services.

The journal, which is made possible by an endowment from UNH benefactor Dana Hamel, premiered in 2005 to support the academic mission of UNH as a research and public service university.